Brewer’s eminent-domain bill sent to governor

Property owners would win the right to challenge land seizures for renewable energy projects in court with the Legislature’s unanimous passage Monday of state Sen. Tom Brewer’s 2019 priority bill. Lawmakers also would assert their authority to protect the Sandhills and other environmentally sensitive areas under Legislative Bill 155, which won 44-0 final approval.The measure, which now goes to Gov. Pete Ricketts for his signature, had been one of two Brewer-introduced bills pitting renewable-energy advocates against Sandhills residents fearful of lasting damage from planting heavy wind turbines in their fragile topsoil.